There is probably merit in not getting too invested in what others think of us. Books have been written such as Mark Manson's "The Subtle art of not giving a F***!" that support this philosophy. However when you see this pervade business interactions it boggles the mind.

​We get harried. We have bad hair days that spill out into our business dealings. We get overwhelmed. We get complacent. The most common poison I see in business is 'perfunctory service' a label I'm assuming is an oxymoron.

It's so hard to to earn a prospect, think marketing, branding, merchandising, and a multitude of other investments and we can blow it in a split second. We're tuned into recognising good service but even more acutely tuned in to perfunctory interactions.

Usually it's poorly trained or monitored staff but it's always the owner's responsibility to recognise and respond. The reason it's so insidious is because it's just below the threshold of triggering a complaint but just irritating enough to lose a client forever.